56th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, 29 April – 4 May 2010

Oberhausen attendance remains high

Download this release as a pdf file here.

The 56th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen ended on 4 May 2010. The all-time record of 2009 was almost reached again with nearly 18,400 entries. The festival reaches an increasingly broad audience, as the 6 % increase of tickets sold to non-industry visitors shows. 35 of the 90 screenings were sold out. The programme of early films, “From the Deep”, was particularly popular with packed cinemas at almost every screening.

Festival director Lars Henrik Gass sees the festival concept validated: “Oberhausen formulates a temporary society that is highly political, because it generates a social and intellectual energy which opens up room for options and alternatives. In this sense we draft a small Oberhausen Manifesto every year here. This call for what is new, however, does not necessarily relate to new film. In our programme ‘From the Deep: The Great Experiment 1898-1918”, the cinema’s quality of being a utopian space was brought to light once more."

More than 1000 accredited visitors from 45 countries visited the festival for six days and saw almost 500 short films and numerous fringe events.

The 57th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen will take place from 5 to 10 May 2011.

Oberhausen, 5 May 2010

Press contact: Sabine Niewalda, Fon +49 (0)208 825-3073, niewalda@kurzfilmtage.de